NCPA opera Un Ballo in Maschera to return for another round

NCPA April/13/2024

From May 1^st to 5^th, Verdi’s opera Un Ballo in Maschera will be revived at the NCPA Opera Festival 2024 for five consecutive sessions during the May Day holiday.

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The upcoming three-act opera, premiered in 1859, is one of Verdi’s representative works written in his heyday and is also a witness of his effort in sending the Italian opera art into a period of great prosperity. Un Ballo in Maschera, telling the story of Gustav III, King of Sweden, is based on French dramatist Eugène Scribe’s writing. The opera is all about an assassination attempt against the King, who falls in love with a minister’s wife and the minister, who is loyal to the King, decides to take revenge when knowing the truth.

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The opera boasts a story that can interest bystanders of all time. Furthermore, the style of the bright French opera buffa is blended with the connotation of the traditional Italian opera, making almost every aria catchy and melodious.

There are actually two versions of this opera. The first version is based on Verdi’s original creative intention. In this version, the story is set in Sweden of 1792, when Gustav III, King of Sweden, was murdered by conspirators. But because of cultural review, Verdi had to set the opera in Boston, USA, before the opera could be successfully premiered in those days. In the many years that followed, the Boston version was staged frequently all over the world.

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Considering that the music in the opera is strongly typical of the royal spectacle of Gustav III’s time, the Swedish version is adopted for the NCPA production in order to stay strictly faithful to the original. This version is tailor-made for the NCPA’s audience by the famous opera director Hugo De Ana with a top creative team. The exquisite stage scenery, gorgeous costumes and coloruful visual presentation will soon take you back to Stockholm of the 18^th century to relive the cultural landscape of the Swedish capital.

LÜ Jia, Music and Artistic Director of the NCPA, will conduct the China NCPA Chorus and Orchestra in this round. Famous singers Gianluca Terranova, WANG Chong, Clarissa Costanzo and ZHOU Xiaolin will play the hero Gustav III and the heroine Amelia, to interpret the game between intrigue and love that takes place in a European palace in the 18^th century, by working with outstanding artists from home and abroad including Marco Caria, ZHOU Zhengzhong, Ana Maria Chiuri, YANG Guang, Enkeleda Kamani, LIU Lian, MA Guoyi, MEI Jie and GUAN Zhijing.

CALENDAR
Full Calendar
Full Calendar

GENRE
Opera Concert Dance & Ballet Theatre
Chinese Traditional Opera

Festivals & Series* NCPA May Festival 2024 * NCPA Piano Virtuosos 2024 * Charm of China—Maestros of Chinese Traditional Music

Box Office Hours
Performance Days 9:30 AM -19:30 PM
Gap Days 9:30 AM -18:00 PM
Tickets Info
8610-66550000

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